


you can learn to do it, too

by agreytracksuit



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agreytracksuit/pseuds/agreytracksuit
Summary: prompt: R is surprisingly not good at something & M helpsRaven is hosting a dinner party for her friends and when she royally screws it up Murphy offers to help her out.
Relationships: John Murphy/Raven Reyes
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	you can learn to do it, too

She should’ve just ordered something from the Italian restaurant nearby. Raven had no idea how to cook, and the recipe she’d found for grilled salmon was far too complicated for her. She’d only offered to host this stupid dinner party because she’d felt obliged to after Clarke and Bellamy had invited her to theirs.

The salmon was on the grill and needed half an hour before she checked on it, so she thought it was pretty safe to head back into her apartment and set the table. Maybe she could even pour herself a glass of wine. Her guests would be arriving in an hour and she wanted to make sure everything else was perfect.

Raven was just setting out some glasses when there was a knock on her door. It was only 6.30 so no one should be arriving yet. She opened the door and saw her neighbour Murphy standing there with what looked like a large chunk of coal on a tray.

“Can I help you?” she demanded, confusion evident on her face.

“I went to our outdoor area to use the communal grill for my steak and I came across this,” he told her, bemusedly. “You know, I _think_ it used to be a fish, but it’s so far gone that it definitely isn’t one now.”

Raven slapped her hand to her forehead. “Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” she groaned. “I have four people coming here in less than an hour and I don’t have anything else to serve them. I’ll have to cancel, this is so humiliating!”

“Okay, you need to calm down a bit,” Murphy said, pushing past her and letting himself in. “Luckily for you I have some spare steaks and I know how to cook.” He held up a plastic bag to show her the steaks he’d brought. He placed the burnt fish on the sink and put the steaks on the bench.

“You really don’t have to do that. My friends will understand. I hope,” she muttered.

“The place looks great,” Murphy continued, ignoring her as he took off his coat and folded it over a bar stool. “Don’t worry, I won’t intrude on your little dinner party, but it would be nice if your guests don’t die of food poisoning. I don’t want the cops sniffing around here.”

Raven smiled. “Thank you, I really have no idea what I’m doing,” she said, defeated.

“Which is interesting, because in the years that we’ve been neighbours I don’t think I’ve seen you be bad at anything,” Murphy noted. “But I guess I’ve never been invited around for dinner, so that explains it.”

“Yeah, I don’t cook very much,” Raven admitted. “So, where do we start?”

“We’ll start with an easy marinade for the steaks. Do you have red wine and garlic?” he asked. Raven nodded and brought him the bottle, taking a quick swig before putting it on the bench next to him. “We’ll also need olive oil, potatoes and any herbs you have. Do you have mushrooms?” Raven shook her head as she gathered all of the other things Murphy mentioned.

“What should I do with this fish?” she asked Murphy, picking up the tray from the sink.

“Throw it down the garbage chute, it’s useless now,” he told her, grimacing at the blackened salmon. She took it out to the hallway and tossed it down the garbage chute, and when she came back Murphy was pouring a lot of wine over the steaks in a shallow container.

“What are you doing?” she asked curiously. It looked like he was just wasting her perfectly good wine.

“Making a marinade,” Murphy replied, as if it were obvious. “Do you have a garlic crusher?”

“No, why would I have that? And why are you wasting so much of my wine?”

“It’s fine, a grater will work too,” Murphy continued. Raven fetched her grater from the cupboard and gave it to him. “Wine makes a great, easy marinade. Plus, it makes people think you’ve put a lot of effort in when you haven’t really.”

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” Raven wondered, impressed with his skills. He started to grate the garlic over the steaks, turning them as he went, so they were evenly covered.

“My mom was a drunk and my dad was in prison for robbery, so I grew up in foster care,” Murphy explained, very nonchalant for how deep he was getting. “Going from home to home I picked things up from every family I was living with.”

“You’re very open about having such a dark past,” Raven noted. Murphy shrugged.

“It’s not like it’s a secret, it’s just my life. If people want to know about it I have no problem telling them,” he explained, putting the steaks in the fridge. “Okay, they need to rest for as long as possible. Preferably for an hour but if your guests will be here soon, we can get them out earlier,” he went on. “If you can peel the potatoes then we can start putting some herbs on them.”

Raven got out her peeler and started on the potatoes. “So, do you have anyone you consider family now?” she asked curiously. It was nice getting to know him like this. They’d only really had neighbourly interactions up until this point. She finished peeling the first potato and Murphy cut it into quarters, threw it into a bowl and covered it in oil as she peeled the next one.

“Not really, I’m more of a lone wolf,” he said, cutting up the next potato. “What about you? What were your parents like growing up?”

“Dead, mostly,” Raven told him. He stopped cutting the potato and looked at her.

“I’m really sorry,” he said sincerely. She smiled at him.

“It’s okay, really. I was pretty much raised by my friend Clarke’s mom,” Raven continued. “So I always had a family, at least. There are times I wish I knew my parents, but I’m really grateful for what they did for me.”

“Is Clarke one of the people coming tonight?” Murphy asked. He finished pouring oil on the last potato and started to toss in the herbs Raven had provided.

“She is, as well as her husband Bellamy and his sister Octavia. You might even get to meet them, they should be here before the food is done,” Raven said. Murphy finished coating the potatoes in herbs and put them on a tray, which he gave to Raven to put in the oven.

“Do you have a salad organised?” Murphy asked. Raven shook her head sheepishly. She hadn’t realised how little she knew about throwing a dinner party. “It’s fine, I’m sure we can throw something together.”

He opened the fridge and pulled out a head of lettuce, a small punnet of cherry tomatoes, half a red onion and a mostly eaten block of feta cheese.

“You really know how to do a lot with not very much, don’t you?” Raven said admirably. Murphy smiled at her.

“It’s not that hard,” he assured her. “There’s so much you can do with the bare minimum. Do you want to slice the onion for me?”

Raven got out a chopping board and a knife and started cutting while Murphy shredded the lettuce into a large glass bowl, threw in the cherry tomatoes and crumbled the feta cheese over the top. Once Raven had sliced the onion, he tossed that in and mixed it around a little.

“Would it be stupid to ask if you have salad serving spoons?” he teased with a smirk, starting to understand how little she really had in the way of kitchen supplies.

“Actually, you know what, surprisingly I don’t!” Raven answered sarcastically with a smile. Murphy shook his head and laughed. He opened a few of her drawers before finding a pair of barbecue tongs and putting them in the bowl.

“It’ll have to do,” he said. He then got the steaks out of the fridge and inspected them. “These could do with a little longer but it’s probably better for timing if we start cooking them now.”

“Should we take them out to the grill then?” Raven asked.

“Actually, with this kind of seasoning, it’s better to cook it in the pan. That way it prevents the flavour escaping,” Murphy explained. Raven nodded in understand and got her biggest frypan out of the cupboard. Murphy turned on the gas stovetop and poured oil into the pan. He was about to put the steaks on but turned to Raven. “You should do the honours. It’s your dinner party.”

Raven looked at the steaks nervously. “I’m not sure I can be trusted with that,” she said dubiously.

“Come on Raven, I’ll be right here if things start to go sideways,” Murphy told her with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She gently placed the steaks into the pan and they sizzled as they hit the oil. Raven grinned up at Murphy.

“It smells amazing already,” she said excitedly. They continued chatting as the steaks cooked, turning them when the first side was done, and before long they heard the doorbell. Raven almost ran to get it.

“Hey Raven!” Clarke greeted her, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek. “We brough a bottle of wine for you.”

“Thank you, that’s really sweet,” Raven said, opening the door wider for Bellamy and Octavia to come through as well.

“It smells fantastic in here,” Octavia moaned, inhaling deeply.

“Thanks! My neighbour Murphy helped me get everything organised,” Raven informed them. Murphy was standing awkwardly in the kitchen and gave the group a small wave as they entered. “Murphy, come over here and meet my friends.”

He moved into the dining room and stood next to Raven.

“Everyone, this is Murphy,” Raven introduced. “Murphy, this is Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia.” She gestured to each of them as she said their names and they took turns shaking Murphy’s hand.

“Murphy, will you be joining us for dinner?” Bellamy asked politely.

“No, no,” Murphy said hurriedly. “I don’t want to intrude. Actually, I should be getting out of your hair.”

“You should stay,” Raven said firmly, looking directly into his eyes so he knew she meant it. Murphy smiled at her.

“Okay, I’ll stay,” he agreed. The guests cheered and started talking animatedly among themselves while Raven and Murphy went back to the kitchen to serve dinner.

“Thank you,” Murphy whispered to Raven so the others couldn’t hear. She smiled up at him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


End file.
